Comparative study of the Characteristics of Collagen Synthesis by Cultured Fibroblasts in the Fetus and Adult.

Rah, Dong Kyun; Roh, Tai Suk; Park, Beyoung Yun; Lee, Kwang Hoon

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Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 1999;26(3):377-382.
Published online May 1, 1999.

Comparative study of the Characteristics of Collagen Synthesis by Cultured Fibroblasts in the Fetus and Adult.

Dong Kyun Rah, Tai Suk Roh, Beyoung Yun Park, Kwang Hoon Lee

Abstract

With the development of antenatal diagnostic tools such as ultrasonography, some congenital anomalies or diseases can be detected in early fetal life. Routine serial antenatal check-ups have made it possible to predict the prognosis of these problems, and a few life-threatening single anatomic malformations have been treated by open fetal surgery. The experience of fetal surgery revealed that the human fetus appears to heal without any scarring. In contrast to adult animals, the response to tissue injury in the fetus is conspiciously devoid of acute inflammation. Indeed, the absence of neutrophils is perhaps the most consistent observation in fetal wounds and seems to be followed by absent or scanty fibroblast infiltration, which results in healing with sparse and well organized collagen deposition. Actually, the amount and quality of the collagen deposition were decided by the fibroblasts which infiltrated the wound. It is well known that fetal wounds have sparse collagen deposition, however, the mechanisms are still unclear. This study was designed to evaluate the role of fibroblast activity in the differences of the scar formation between the fetus and neonate. Fibroblast activity such as the cell growth rate, the amount of collagen synthesis and the synthesized collagen types of fetus(IUP 18-22 weeks) was compared with that of neonate. The amount of collagen synthesis was measured by H-proline uptake and the amount of collagen type III was measured by Western blot using antihuman procollagen type III. The cell growth rate as determined by cell proliferation from the initial cell count of 5x10(5) to cell confluence was 3.6 x 10(6) in the fetal fibroblasts compared to 2.5x10(6) in neonatal fibroblasts. Fetal fibroblast synthesize 16.9 x 10(4) cpm of collagen and neonatal fibroblasts synthesize 2.7 x 10(4) cpm of collagen. The synthesized amount of type III collagen was 2.1x10(4) ug/ml, and 1.5x10(4) ug/ml by fetal and neonatal fibroblasts, respectively. In conclusion, fetal fibroblasts grow faster and synthesize a smaller amount of collagen, but produce more type III collagen than neonatal fibroblasts.

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